The use of fishing boats or marine vessels in shallow water or along the edge of the shoreline goes hand in hand with the success of a fishing effort. For the same reason, fish harbor in the brush or along the shoreline, larger fish prey on smaller fish near these hiding places. When fishing in these areas, the operator of the boat must be able to maneuver the boat without hitting the brush and follow the indications provided by a fishfinder.
A trolling motor is the most common means of navigating in shallow or hazardous water at a slow speed but fails to provide any provisions for stopping the boat. If a boat is taken near the shoreline for fishing, the trolling motor makes the boat sail, often into the shoreline damaging the boat or quickly through schools of fish. Stumps often provide the most hazardous damage to boats and are capable of damaging the trolling motor as well.
Some of the earliest means for operating the boat on a waterway was provided by men using long poles to push off the river bed to move the boat along the waterway. Such poles are also well known to provide a means for breaking boats or docking a boat. Nevertheless, there exists a need for operating and stopping boats in hazardous waterways for recreational use.